


A New Plan

by WordsmithMusings



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hermione's future careers, Kingsley Shackleboat Mentioned, One Shot, Post-Hogwarts, harry potter mentioned - Freeform, one shot with possibilities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-02 12:44:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19199086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsmithMusings/pseuds/WordsmithMusings
Summary: Hermione Granger has known for many years what she wants to do with her life after Graduation, but then she realizes that she has the ability to change the Wizarding World in a much different way. The problem is, she can't do it alone. Seeking out the guidance of her mentor, former professor and now Headmistress of Hogwarts, Hermione may find the answers she's looking for in an unexpected person.





	A New Plan

**Author's Note:**

> _HI guys! Several weeks ago the Muses hit me with this idea and just wouldn't let it go. It is a one-shot for now, but man is there a possibility for more! I decided to post it to see what you think and if it's something I should follow should the Muses ever return to it or if I should let it go. As always, I don't own HP, and I'm not JKR. I'm just here as a vessel for the Muses and to share the ideas they give me. The plot and grammatical errors are all mine though!_

###  **A New Plan**

Kingsley Shackleboat and Harry Potter had no one to blame but themselves really. If it hadn’t been for their insistence that she works for the ministry, that she join the DMLE, then she never would’ve gotten the idea in the first place, but insisted they had. Using arguments about how much change she could enact from the inside, how much more she could get done by changing things from the source, starting right at the heart of things, and allowing those ripples to radiate out towards the rest of the wizarding world. 

“Think of it,” Harry had insisted, his hands moving in front of her face as if he was a magician, “think of all the good you could do for Muggleborns if you were able to open the very doors that were always closed to them.”

The idea had popped into Hermione Granger's head immediately. 

She had been so foolish, thinking that the way to enact change was best won in the political arena. She hated the mountains of red tape, the kiss-asses and double talk. The gossip and the social climbing involved gave her the shivers – and not in those wondrous weak in the knees kind of ways. Plus, there was the paperwork, miles, and miles of paperwork with endless loopholes. Not to mention the connections and money she didn’t have. She was not a pauper by any means thanks to the Ministry and War Reparations, not to mention the money and prestige that came with being a War Heroine and Order of Merlin, First Class recipient. And the wealth she had accumulated in the Muggle world thanks to her family. But she’d never been in the league of the Notts or Longbottoms and certainly not, dare she say, the Malfoys – even after the sum they had to pay in Reparations. 

And while being the youngest ever, and FIRST ever Muggleborn, Minister of Magic had been a dream she had held on to for many years, she had known after that conversation with Harry and Kingsley that it was time for a new idea. One she was confident she could make happen.

She had left that meeting and immediately scheduled another one; a few days later sat over tea discussing the idea with Headmistress McGonagall, who had instantly loved the idea. “I had similar thought years and years ago. I had been pushing Dumbledore to work towards something like it in one way or another for years. He always came up with some excuse or another,” she stated matter of factly turning her eye to the portrait on her wall, the one that was feigning sleep and none-too-convincingly Hermione thought casting her dubious eye at her former Headmaster. 

“It’s funny, that you should bring this up now, though,” the older witch added, sipping her tea thoughtfully.

“Oh?”

“I had a similar conversation just a few days ago, actually; it seems you aren’t the only one that’s realized what a disadvantage muggle-borns have upon entering our world.”

“There’s just so much pureblood tradition and customs that are still used today! And there’s absolutely no information anywhere on it! Do you know I almost ended up betrothed to Cormac one year?”

“No! How did that happen?”

“He sent me a box with a pretty engraving on it; I thought for sure it was from Ron or Harry, but Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott had happened upon me in Runes just before I was about to open it.”

“They explained what it was and told you what it would mean if you opened it.” 

Hermione nodded. “At first I thought perhaps they were trying to play a Slytherin prank on me, but Zabini had just laughed and told me to go ahead and open it then – because what better prank to a Slytherin then to see a Muggleborn like me unwittingly betrothed to a git like him!” At that, both women laughed. 

“Mr. Zabini always had a way with words.”

“Truly, though Headmistress, if they had not warned me, where would I be now? And I was blindsided! I had no idea what that box even meant, and Cormac was using it to his advantage to force me into a relationship with him!”

Headmistress McGonagall sighed deeply. Unfortunately, what Cormac had done was not uncommon or unheard of in some pureblood circles. While some cultures had moved away from such customs, there were some, especially within the Sacred 28, that was still seen as binding. Hermione would’ve been able to escape her fate, as many others had eventually, but at the cost of her magic, and that in itself would’ve been a far worse fate for the Wizarding World than just her sham of marriage would’ve been. 

“Well, I think that settles it then. As you have the ear of the Minister, and the current Wizarding Savior, you are far more likely to get what you asked for in this regards.”

“Yes, but what about the other side? You know that I can only get so far. I will have to have help from a pureblood. Someone who knows these traditions in and out. Unless you know of a text that I’ve been missing that details all these things?” Hermione had slipped in the last bit quickly, secretly hoping that her old Professor had access to something that even the Restricted Section couldn’t hold. Her hopes were dashed then as the other woman set her cup down with a sad smile and shake of her head.

“Unfortunately no, my dear. As much as I wish there were books on these subjects, there is nothing outside of private libraries and family histories, if at all. I know that you are aware that most Pureblood children are homeschooled until they attend Hogwarts, but what you may not be aware of is that most of this learning comes at the hands of their families. It used to be deemed a sign of great wealth if you and your partner were able to educate your children yourself on matters such as these.”

“Really? I would’ve thought nannies or tutors taught most of them.”

“Oh there are plenty of those that are, but they are relegated to specifics – languages, arts and broader subjects perhaps. But the essentials – reading, writing, etiquette, traditions. Those are all taught by the family – preferably the Matriarch or Patriarch, but if one or both of them is preoccupied with things of society such as jobs or charities, then an Aunt or Grandparent may step in.”

“But not a tutor.”

“Never.”

“But why?”

“How else were they to control what materials their children got information from? How would they be sure they were learning the proper ways to hold themselves? Present themselves? How would they know when to speak or how to act in certain situations? No. Everything was learned directly from their parents.”

“No wonder there’s such a great divide between us! How do you learn tolerance and acceptance if you are never exposed to anyone or anything but a clearly defined bubble?”

“And now you understand why I testified for many of my students that were tried in the Wizengamot.”  
Hermione nodded. She had seen McGonagall when she and Harry had testified on Draco’s behalf. She had been convinced that he was unwilling, a child, placed in a truly tragic situation, and Harry too, had been sure that if the tables had been turned that Draco would’ve accepted Dumbledore’s offer. He had been used as a pawn because of his family, and they had both known it. McGonagall had just all but confirmed it. 

“Is that why you dismissed Slytherins during the final battle?”

“Partly,” she replied, pausing to think over her words. “I knew it was going to be different for many of them – if they stayed, they would be fighting parents, siblings, friends. It was a very different situation for them, and no less frightening, I’m sure.” 

The woman’s words surprised her. Hermione had always thought it was because of Pansy’s reaction, her willingness to throw Harry to the Dark Lord. After speaking to her, she had learned that it was an outburst dictated by fear. “How many more people were going to have to die because of Saint Potter?” Pansy had spat, kicking back another shot of firewhiskey before continuing, “We’d been watching firsties being tortured by the Carrows for months. You have no idea what a living hell that castle had turned into that year, and I just wanted it to be done and over with.”

Pansy’s drunken confession had confused her. She had known that things in the Castle were rough while they had been gone, but they had never considered what had been happening, the pain and torture that children were receiving within the walls of their home and sanctuary. They had just assumed that the Professors would be able to keep them safe, that the castle itself would. Not that people like Pansy or Susan Bones or Ginny, would be learning the healing arts to secretly treat and protect and heal children when there were just too many for Madam Pomfrey to keep up with. That people like Hannah Abbot and Daphne Greengrass and the Patil sisters were secretly sneaking food from the kitchens into the different standard rooms for children too weak or too scared to leave the safety of those rooms. That people like Blaise Zabini and That Nott had secretly taught first and second years how to fake being tortured so that they wouldn’t be injured as the two older boys “volunteered” to perform the punishments. Or that Draco Malfoy would volunteer to watch people in the dungeons so he could slip them healing and pain potions that he and Snape were brewing together. It had been a sobering revelation for Hermione, to say the very least. 

It was all the more reason why she knew her idea had merit and why she had a new goal in sight for herself. She would no longer be the youngest ever Minister of Magic, nor the first Muggleborn to hold that title. Instead, she would be the youngest ever Headmistress of Hogwarts, and the first, she suspected, muggleborn to hold that title as well. But first, she needed to put her attention into something else — a primary school for ALL magical children. The very first of it’s kind. 

There would be no more waiting until a child reached 11 to notify them that they were Magical and sending them off to a world that they, and their parents, knew absolutely nothing about. Every magical child born in England was logged at birth, in the Book of Magic, by the Archivist deep within the offices of the Unspeakables. Hermione was determined that parents would know as soon as possible that they had given birth to a different child. It would become part of the paperwork, just like filing for the child’s birth certificate, and there would be people that would visit them, and speak to them, just as Professor McGonagall had come to Hermione’s home to inform her parents that she was a witch. It would be a little harder, with the statue of secrecy, but it would help those families so much more than anyone understood. Those parents wouldn’t be blindsided by accidental magic, but would instead understand what it was, and be able to call on a witch or wizard for guidance and assistance; they would be able to prevent maladies and flairs. Not to mention the isolation and bullying, that so many muggleborns experience because of their inability to control their magic. 

Plus, there would be the ability for parents to save and prepare for the unexpected cost of Hogwarts. A private boarding school in Scotland was not cheap, and neither were the supplies that were required of them each year. Hermione had been lucky that her parents had been well-off and had been able to provide everything she needed without hesitation, but she knew people like the Creevys, who had ended up with TWO magical children, had not been as fortunate in that regard. 

And then there was the primary school. A place where children would learn not just the basics of reading, writing, math, and science like they did in the muggle world, but where they would also be introduced to wizarding culture and traditions. Yes, there could be art and history and languages, as well, but moreover, there would be witches and wizards from all backgrounds learning and playing together. They would remove the stigmas and isolation that divided the two cultures from the start, thus preparing the students for a smoother transition not just into Hogwarts, but into the Wizarding world in general. Future generations would come to abolish unfair laws and rewrite histories and treatments of others because they would have grown up not seeing them as inferiors or less than, but equals. They would read a law that ensures that their oldest friend, the child they had known since kindergarten, would be prevented from holding a seat within the Wizengamot, and they would see the injustice. They would right the wrongs themselves and open the doors to a new and greater future. Hermione didn’t have to navigate the political incorrectness of the Ministry. 

There was no need to teach an old dog new tricks when she could just train the puppies from birth. It was a crude metaphor to be sure, but the point was the same. 

Her friends and generation would be the start; they would be the ones teaching these children, birthing these children, parenting these children. They would be the ones that could show them that they had learned from the war. And by the time their children were off to Hogwarts, graduating Hogwarts and joining the world as adults, they would have a well-rounded education that would leave them prepared to enter either world and would give them connections and tools to use to spread love and forgiveness. They would see their similarities more than their differences. 

But first, she had to get the school off the ground, and for that, she needed Pureblood support, backing, and someone who could help her navigate the traditions that she still didn’t understand. And if what McGonagall said was true, this person had already presented themselves to her, all Hermione needed was a name, and she could set her plan into action. Within a generation, the wizarding world would be completely rewritten, and if all went to plan, she would be the Headmistress of Hogwarts itself – able to control and ensure that House Rivalries, Pureblood Supremacy, and the likes of Lord Voldemort were never able to threaten their world again. 

“So, Professor, do you think they would take a meeting with me and possibly help me get this school off the ground?”

“Oh why yes, my dear, I do believe they would. They have as much to gain by it as you do, and I have to admit that they would have the financial clout and ability to back you up.”

“That’s wonderful! May I ask who it is?”

Headmistress McGonagall’s eyes sparkled and twinkled over her teacup in a way that eerily reminded Hermione of Dumbledore. “Why, yes, of course.”

Seeing as the woman didn’t add a name, Hermione pressed on and asked who it was specifically. “Why, my dear, I thought it should be quite clear. It was Narcissa Malfoy.”

**Author's Note:**

> _Thank you for reading! Comments, kudos, and constructive criticism are always welcome._
> 
> _Until next time! xx The Wordsmith_


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